Agenda and minutes

To welcome all to the meeting, introduction and receive apologies.

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting.

There were no apologies.

Members of the Sub-Committee are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

Debbie Corcoran long standing non-pecuniary interest, relating to a family member who had been diagnosed with special needs was declared.

There were no other declarations.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

In relation to the Autism Spectrum Disorder Pathway, on page 3 of the agenda, it was noted that in addition to the suggestion of the National Autism Spectrum Lead being invited to a future meeting of the SEND Sub-Committee, it was also noted that deep dives of all five areas should be held in order to give a greater depth of understanding and add value to the scrutiny process.

In relation to the Transitions in Health Care, on page 4 of the agenda, it was noted that following the benchmarking process on transitions in health care, an assurance was given that the Accelerated Progress Plan was broadly in line with other areas.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2020 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Zoe Richards, Senior Programme Manager for SEND (Lancashire and South Cumbria, Hilary Fordham, Morecambe Bay Clinical Commission Group (CCG), and Dave Carr, Head of Service Policy, Information and Commissioning (Start Well) introduced the item.  It was noted that the information presented related to the December highlight report.

Each action in the report was taken in turn and members provided comments to each action.

Action One: Leaders' Understanding of Local Area

In relation to Action One: Leaders' Understanding of Local Area, the following key messages were noted:

·  The two new SEND Partnership members of staff had both commenced employment on 4 January.

·  The inaugural Integrated Care System Parent Reference Group had been held in December, the feedback from which was extremely positive.

·  Pilot feedback mechanisms had commenced in January.

·  The workshop to continue to improve leaders' understanding of the local area had taken place in January and members would be updated at the next meeting of the SEND Sub-Committee.

·  Work was on-going in relation to providing layers of education, care and health data, which would be collaborated into dashboards and subsequently analysed. 

In response to a query over turning the data into intelligence, it was reported that a data-flow model had been designed to support the understanding of education outcomes, with the layers of data being broken down into annual, half-yearly, quarterly and monthly layers, which were overlaid together to provide intelligence that could be analysed and used in deciding on the next steps to be taken. 

·  The pandemic continues to pressurise Business Intelligence Teams within health providers and, in response to a query, an assurance was given that this had been escalated with the two outstanding Trusts – Southport & Ormskirk and Mersey Care, and were currently being addressed.  It was confirmed that an update would be provided in the February highlight report to the SEND Sub-Committee, when the situation would in all likelihood be more optimistic.

·  An update on the performance framework would be provided at the next meeting and members were asked to consider any areas they felt should be covered over the next month to ensure all relevant information is included.

Action 2: Joint Commissioning

In relation to Action 2: Joint Commissioning, the following key messages were noted:

·  The mapping of special nursing services had been completed, as had the mapping and reviewing of incontinence services across Lancashire, with further work still taking place. 

·  Current policy arrangements in each Integrated Personal Commissioning (ICP) had been identified and a process of engagement was on-going to obtain feedback.

·  The commissioning framework paper presented to the Children and Young People's Commissioning Network had now received approval and had been shared with members of the SEND Sub-Committee.

·  The Lancashire Commissioning Group held its first meeting in December 2020 and a considerable amount of work was taking place to jointly review data and intelligence to assess services and support the decision-making process.

·  Identification of the Special Schools Public Health School Nurses had been completed and the information had recently been uploaded to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

An item of Urgent Business may only be considered under this heading, where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Members' intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There was no urgent business.

The next scheduled meeting of the Sub-Committee will be held at 10am on 22 March 2021.

It was noted that the timing of future meetings of the Sub-Committee would be reviewed in an attempt to ensure that the most up-do-date information could be reported to the Sub-Committee, whilst still fitting in with the Health and Wellbeing Board and SEND Partnership Board meetings.

Resolved: That, the next meeting of the SEND Sub-Committee was scheduled for 10.00am on Monday 22 March 2021.